Mr. Obama, speaking in an interview on NBC, said his administration is going to see if they can get the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to turn over its chemical weapons but expressed skepticism about the plan.

“I think you have to take it with a grain of salt initially,” Mr. Obama said of the proposal. The proposal gained traction Monday as Russia, which is a close ally of the Syrian regime, urged the Assad government to hand over the chemical weapons and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered U.N. help in overseeing the destruction of chemical weapons within Syria.

Mr. Obama gave interviews to six television networks Monday ahead of his planned speech on Syria Tuesday night, designed as a big, primetime push to win over a skeptical public and convince Congress to authorize an attack. (See excerpts from the six interviews.)

Reflecting the new developments in Syria, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) opted to bring proceedings to a pause on Monday, saying he would not take the necessary procedural steps Monday to begin setting up a vote on the resolution authorizing military force in Syria.

“The international discussion continues relative to the matter in Syria,” Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor, “I don’t think we need to see how fast we can do this. We have to see how well we can do this matter.” Mr. Reid decided to delay the vote in large part to see how the Russian proposal that Syria hand over chemical weapons evolves, according to Senate Democratic aides.

Speaking on CNN, said he doesn’t want the plan to be used as “a stalling or delaying tactic” to prevent the U.S. from pressuring the regime. Indeed, Mr. Obama said the proposal only seemed to gain traction in light of a threat of U.S. military action and said he would press ahead with plans to get Congress to back strikes against the Assad regime.

The president’s plan to get authorization from Congress has faced tough resistance from lawmakers of both parties. He and his cabinet have in recent days launched one of the biggest lobbying efforts of his presidency to gain support for punishing the Assad regime.

Mr. Obama has said he retains the right to strike Syria even if Congress doesn’t authorize military action. But when asked whether he would go ahead with strikes with Congressional approval, the president said on NBC: “I think it’s fair I haven’t decided.”

But, in the same interview, he said that he is wary of setting a “precedent” in which the president takes military action “without consensus in a situation where there’s not a direct imminent threat to the homeland or interest around the world.”

For their part, Senate Democrats remain confident they have enough support to advance the resolution authorizing force in Syria through the first procedural vote.

“We have enough votes,” Mr. Reid said Monday on the floor, but noted that he wanted to make sure the president had the chance to make his case to lawmakers and public on Tuesday.

The timing of the first procedural Senate vote remained up in the air.

In his interviews Monday, the president also responded to threats of retaliations should the U.S. strike the Assad regime. Mr. Assad himself, in an interview with Charlie Rose of PBS and CBS, said the United States should expect reprisals.

Mr. Obama, on CNN, said the Assad regime doesn’t present a credible threat to the U.S.

“Mr. Assad doesn’t have a lot of capability. He has capability relative to children. He has capability relative to an opposition that is still getting itself organized and are not professional trained fighters,” Mr. Obama said. He said Mr. Assad’s allies, like Iran and Hezbollah, could hit American embassies and personnel abroad. But, Mr. Obama said, the U.S. is used to dealing with such threats.

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.